Page sized inspirational teaching from the writings of Swami Sivananda, compiled by Swami Venkatesananda. These teachings are content progressive and cover the entire width of Yoga and Vedanta in a practical and easy to follow format. Messages are sent daily for the next day to accommodate different time zones.

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Friday, March 31, 2017

Karma is a Sanskrit term that signifies action or deed. Any
physical or mental action is karma. Thinking is mental karma. Karma is the sum
total of our acts, both in the present life and in the preceding births.

Karma means not only action, but also the result of an
action. The consequence of an action is really not a separate thing. It is a
part of the action and cannot be divided from it. The law of karma means the
law of causation. Wherever there is a cause, there an effect must be produced.
A seed is a cause for the tree, which is the effect. The tree produces seeds
and becomes the cause for the seeds. The cause is found in the effect and the
effect is found in the cause. The effect is similar to the cause. This is the
universal chain of cause and effect which has no end.

No link in the chain is unnecessary. This world runs on this
fundamental and vital law. This law is inexorable and immutable. This grand law
operates everywhere in the physical and mental planes. No phenomenon can escape
from the operation of this mighty law and all other laws of nature are
subordinate to this fundamental law.

No event can occur without having a positive, definite cause
at the back of it. The breaking out of a war, the rise of a comet, the
occurrence of an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, the outbreak of an
epidemic, thunder, lightning, floods, diseases of the body, fortune,
misfortune, all have their definite causes behind them.

The grand law of causation includes the law of action and
reaction, the law of compensation and the law of retribution. All these laws
come under one general, all-embracing heading, namely, the doctrine of karma.

If there is an action, there must be a reaction. The
reaction will be of equal force and of similar nature. Every thought, desire,
imagination and sentiment causes reaction. Virtue brings its own reward; vice
brings its own punishment. This is the working of the law of reaction. God
neither punishes the wicked nor rewards the virtuous. It is their own karmas
that bring reward and punishment. It is the law of action and reaction that
brings the fruits. No one is blamed.

The law operates everywhere with unceasing precision and
scientific accuracy. The law of action and reaction operates both in the
physical and mental planes.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Man is threefold in his nature. He consists of desire or
feeling, knowing and willing. These three fashion his karma. He knows objects like
chair, tree, etc. He feels joy and sorrow. He wills - to do this, or not to do
that.

Behind the action, there are desire and thought. A desire
for an object arises in the mind and then you think of ways and means to obtain
it. Then you exert to possess it. Desire, thought and action always go together
in this process. They are the three threads, as it were, that are twisted into
the cord of karma.

Desire produces karma. You work and exert to acquire the
objects of your desire. Karma produces its fruits as pain or pleasure. You will
have to take birth after birth to reap the fruits of your karmas. This is the
law of karma.

Karma is of three kinds, namely, the accumulated works, the
works that fructify and the current works. The accumulated karmas have accrued
to you from the past. Part of it is seen in the character of man, in his
tendencies and aptitudes, capacities, inclinations and desires.

The fructifying karma is that portion of the past karma
which is responsible for the present body. It is ripe for reaping and cannot be
avoided or changed. It is only exhausted by being experienced. You pay past
debts.

The karma of current works is that karma which is now being
made for the future.

In Vedantic literature, there is a beautiful analogy. The
archer has already released an arrow; it has left his hands. He cannot recall
it. He is about to shoot another arrow. The bundle of arrows in the quiver on
his back is the accumulated work. The arrow he has shot is fructifying work,
and the arrow which he is about to shoot from his bow is current work. Of
these, he has perfect control over the accumulated and the current works, but
he must surely work out his fructifying works. The past which has begun to take
effect he has to experience. Fructifying karma cannot be prevented even by the
Lord.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

The law of compensation operates everywhere in nature's
phenomena. The seed breaks and a large tree arises from the seed. There is no
loss in the breaking of the seed. Fuel burns. Fuel is destroyed. But there is
heat, in accordance with the law of compensation. Many articles are cooked in
the fire on account of the heat.

The law of compensation operates in the mental plane also.
It keeps up the balance and establishes peace, concord, equilibrium, harmony
and justice in nature. Think deeply, cogitate and reflect. You will see that
this law of compensation is operating everywhere in the phenomena of nature. It
is inexorable and immutable. No one can defy this relentless and irresistible
law. If you do an evil act, you will reap a bad fruit in compensation.

If you take an individual life as an isolated event which
begins with birth of the physical body and terminates with its death you cannot
find any correct explanation or solution for the affairs of life. You will be
groping in darkness and despair. Your present life is nothing, when compared
with the whole soul-life. It is momentary - a mere fragment. If you want to
find the cause or antecedent for anything, you will have to go deep into the
affairs of the eternal soul-life. Then alone there will be perfect balance of
cause and effect, antecedent and consequence. Life does not end with the
disintegration of this physical body alone. There is reincarnation. There had
been countless previous lives also. You will have to take into consideration
the widest view of the life of the soul. Then you will find a perfect,
satisfactory solution for all the intricate and complicated affairs of life.

Every wrong action or crime brings its own punishment in
accordance with the law of retribution. The law of causation, the law of action
and reaction, the law of compensation and the law of retribution - all operate
together. He who hurts another man, hurts himself first.

Remember that God is neither partial nor unjust. Remember
that God is not responsible for the wealth of one man or the poverty of
another. You suffer on account of your own wicked actions. There is nothing
chaotic or capricious in this world. Things do not happen in this universe by
accident or chance in a disorderly manner. They happen in regular succession
and events follow each other in a regular order. There is a kind of definite
connection between what is being done now by you and what will happen in the
future. Sow always the seeds which will bring pleasant fruits and which will
make you happy herein and hereafter.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Every man should have a comprehensive understanding of
nature's laws, and their operations. Then he can pull on in this world smoothly
and happily. He can utilise the helping forces to serve his ends in the best
possible manner. He can neutralise the hostile or antagonistic currents. Just as
the fish swims against the current, so also he will be able to go against the
hostile currents by adjusting himself properly and safeguarding himself through
suitable precautionary methods. Otherwise he becomes a slave. He is tossed
about hither and thither helplessly by various currents. Various hostile forces
drag him in different corners. He drifts like a wooden plank in a river. He is
always very miserable and unhappy although he is wealthy and possesses
everything that the world can offer.

The captain of a steamer who has a mariner's compass, who
has knowledge of the sea, the routes and the oceanic currents can sail
smoothly. Otherwise his steamer will drift here and there helplessly and be
wrecked by being dashed against some icebergs or rocks. Likewise, a wise sailor
in the ocean of this life, who has a detailed knowledge of the laws of karma
and nature can sail smoothly and reach the goal of life positively.
Understanding the laws of nature, you can mould or shape your character in any
way you like. "As a man thinketh so he becometh", is one of the great
laws of nature. Think you are pure; pure you will become. Think you are noble;
noble you will become. Think you are a human being; human you will become.
Think you are Brahman; Brahman you will become.

He who spreads happiness will always get such favourable
circumstances as can bring him happiness. He who spreads pain to others will,
doubtless, get such unfavourable circumstances, according to the law of nature,
as can bring him misery and pain. Therefore man creates his own character and
circumstances. Bad character can be transmuted into good character by means of
good thoughts, and unfavourable circumstances can be changed into favourable
circumstances by doing good actions. O Ram! You must understand the laws of
nature and become wise and happy.

Monday, March 27, 2017

There are people who have not been able to serve their
preceptors, who have not done any selfless service, or any devotional
practices, who have not had the heart to treat other children with the
affection they show to their own, who may not have had the heart to help others
who were in severe distress - and yet, they sit and speak high philosophy. They
sit and speak of cosmic love, of cosmic vision and of their own spiritual
experiences and realisation (brahma jnana). They repeat the mantra Sivoham
Sivoham ("I am Siva") - or the mantra Aham Brahma Asmi ("I am
the infinite") - every few minutes. They wish to be in contact with great
avataras (incarnations of God) this very second.

Place your foot, step by step, very cautiously, on the
different rungs of the ladder of yoga. Ascend very gradually to the summit. Be
earnest in your sadhana (practice). Equip yourself with the necessary
qualifications. Do not waste your time in search of a preceptor. When you are
ready, you will enter the halls of wisdom. And there, waiting on the threshold,
you will find your preceptor.

Sage Vasishta says: "I assure you; on the authority of
my own intuitional knowledge, as well as that of other illumined souls, that
the reality can be realised by man. But one who has known it cannot communicate
it to others, for want of means." Even the knowledge acquired by the five
senses, which are common to all, cannot be communicated to others. You cannot
tell the taste of butter to a man who has never tasted it. Nor can you communicate
the idea of colour to a man born blind.

All that a teacher can do is to tell his disciple the method
of knowing the truth. All he can do is to tell the disciple of the path that
leads to unfoldment of the intuitional faculty.

If you have a burning desire, like Lord Buddha, if you
possess patience and forgiveness, and if you have devotion to the preceptor -
then you can contact avataras and sages right now, this very second.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Yoga is the science that teaches us the way, the most
effective way, how to remove our defects and weaknesses, and how to attain the
state of perfection, freedom and super-conscious blessedness. The state in
which there is union with the Absolute.

Yoga enables its students to acquire perfect control over
the physical body, the mind and the senses. Yoga shows you the marvellous
method of rising from evil to goodness and from goodness to godliness, and then
from godliness to divine splendour.

Yoga is a search for truth. It raises a man to spiritual
eminence. This form of self-education is called yoga. The yogi observes the law
of moderation at all times. He treads the middle path. He does not torture his
body, but he does regulate his eating and sleeping. He does regulate his
talking and working.

Yoga is your unique heritage. Proceed upon this path
gradually and steadily. Nothing can be achieved overnight. But steady practice
will certainly bestow great blessings in the long run. Yoga has an unparalleled
utility and curative value not yet tapped by modern medical science.

The practice of yoga is not opposed to any religion. It is
not opposed to any sacred church. It is purely spiritual and universal in its
teachings. It does not contradict anyone's sincere faith.

Yoga does not want you to turn away from life; it demands
spiritualization of life. Yoga brings about physical and spiritual development,
side by side. And finally, yoga enables the aspirant to attain blissful union
with the Supreme Being. When yoga gets ripened, it becomes the super-conscious
state. It becomes the state called nirvikalpa samadhi (realisation of the
Absolute).

- - -

Apply yourself tenaciously to self-enquiry and meditation.
Be vigilant. Be diligent. Kill thoughts and desires of the world, through holy
desires. Slay unholy thoughts with holy thoughts. Thus gain victory over your
destiny. There is a vast ocean of knowledge within you. Unfold. Become a
jivanmukta (a liberated soul). Remember, God helps those who help themselves.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Yoga is a perfect and practical system of self-culture. Yoga
is an exact science; it aims at the harmonious development of the body, the
mind and the soul.

Yoga is the turning away of the senses from the objective
universe and concentrating it on the mind within. Yoga is eternal life in the
spirit.

Yoga aims at controlling the mind and its modifications. The
path of yoga is an inner path, whose gateway is your heart.

Yoga is the discipline of the mind, the senses and the
physical body. It helps to control and co-ordinate the subtle forces within the
body.

Yoga brings perfection, peace and everlasting happiness.
Yoga helps you in your business and also in your daily life. Through yoga you
can have a calm mind and a peaceful sleep.

Through yoga you can also have increased energy, vigour,
vitality, longevity and a high standard of health. Yoga transmutes your animal
nature into divine nature. It raises you to the pinnacle of divine glory and
splendour.

The practice of yoga will help you to control your emotions
and passions. It will give you the power to resist temptations and to remove
disturbing elements from the mind.

Yoga enables you to keep a balanced mind always. It removes
fatigue. It confers on you serenity, calmness, and wonderful concentration. It
will enable you to hold communion with the Lord and thus attain
Self-realisation.

If you want to attain success in yoga you will have to
abandon all worldly enjoyments. You will have to practise tapas, (austerity)
and brahmacharya (celibacy).

To curb the mind you have to use intelligent and judicious
methods - because, if you use force, the mind becomes more turbulent and
mischievous. Those who try to control the mind by force are like those who
endeavour to bind a furious elephant with a silken thread.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Yoga is the supreme gift of India to the world at large.
Yoga does not quarrel with science; it supplements it. Yoga is a methodical way
to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human
nature - both physical and psychical.

Yoga is the supreme science of contacting reality. It is
perfection in action. It is equanimity of attitude. It is perfect peace. Yoga
is union with God.

Yoga is not a thing merely to be heard. Yoga is a thing that
has to be assimilated and put into practice in daily life. The practice of yoga
enables one to realise unity with the whole world. It is living in tune with
God.

Yoga is abiding by the principles of truth and avoiding the
path of untruth. Yoga is a science which is meant for the study of the
reflective. It is for those who are convinced that the world of the senses has
nothing substantial to offer.

Yoga is a process of continuous transformation. The inner
perfection of Self-realisation can only come to be revealed by experience. This
happens only progressively. The transformation of one's personality is achieved
through stages.

As you advance in yoga, the ego is progressively replaced by
the spirit. It is through this that the will of God works. By the practice of
yoga, the sadhaka (seeker) is freed from the tyranny of the lower mind and he
becomes divine. At a later stage the transformation takes the shape of a
progressive unfoldment of the spirit.

- - -

A preceptor or guru is indispensable for the practice of
yoga. The aspirant should be humble, simple, gentle, refined, tolerant,
merciful and kind. You will not have success in yoga if you have desire to get
psychic powers. Yoga does not consist of sitting cross-legged for six hours,
nor in stopping the heart-beat, nor in getting buried in the ground for a week
or a month.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

The yogi separates himself from the three gunas (qualities)
and attains kaivalya.

Notes and Commentary

By increasing the satvic modifications of the mind such as kshama
(patience), love, mercy, magnanimity, generosity, truthfulness, celibacy, you
can destroy the rajasic and tamasic mental vrittis. Internal fight is ever
going on between gunas - satva, rajas and tamas, between good vrittis and evil vrittis.

If satva predominates in the mind, thoughts of God, Brahma-vichara
(enquiry into truth) will manifest. The mind will be one-pointed. The
meditative mood will come by itself without any exertion. In spiritual
neophytes the satvic state of mind will not last for a long time. Rajas and
tamas will try to rush in. You will have to be very careful and vigilant. You
will have to watch the mind through careful introspection. Your important duty
is to increase the satva in the mind. A satvic man will be ever virtuous,
God-loving, dispassionate and powerful. A rajasic man will be ever engaged in
worldly activities. He wants to lord over people. He has a domineering
attitude. He wants powers. He is much attached to wife, children and property.
The dross or impurities of the mind - rajas and tamas - should be removed by
heating the mind in the fire of vairagya and abhyasa (dispassion and spiritual
practices of sadhana). Then alone you will become a dhyana yogi.

Eventually the purusha (soul) realises his own native state
of divine glory, isolation or absolute independence (kaivalya). He has
completely disconnected himself from the prakrti and its effects. He feels his
absolute freedom and attains kaivalya, the highest goal of a raja yogi. All
klesha-karmas are destroyed now. The gunas, having fulfilled their objects of
enjoyment and evolution, now entirely cease to act. He has simultaneous knowledge
now. The past and future are blended into present. Everything is
"now". Everything is "here". He has transcended time and
space. The sum-total of all knowledge of the three worlds, of all secular
sciences is nothing, nothing, compared to the infinite knowledge of a yogi who
has attained kaivalya. Glory, glory to such exalted yogis. May their blessings
be upon us all!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Samadhi means super-conscious state, wherein the yogi gets
super-sensual experiences. Samadhi is of two kinds viz., samprajnata or sabija
or savikalpa and asamprajnata or nirbija or nirvikalpa. In savikalpa samadhi
there are triputi (triad) - the knower, knowledge and knowable. There is
alambana (support) for the mind to lean upon. The samskaras (tendencies) are
not fried. In nirvikalpa, there is neither triputi nor alambana. The samskaras
are fried in toto. The nirvikalpa samadhi only can destroy birth and death, and
bring in highest knowledge and bliss. Savikalpa samadhis of various kinds -
savitarka and nirvitarka, savichara and nirvichara, sa-ananda, and asmita.

When you get full success or perfection (siddhi) in raja
yoga by entering into asamprajnata samadhi (nirvikalpa state) all the samskaras
and vasanas (conditioning) which bring on rebirths are totally fried up. All vrittis
(mental modifications) that arise from the mind-lake - come under restraint.
The five afflictions, viz., avidya (ignorance), asmita (egoism), raga-dvesha
(love and hatred), and abhinivesha (clinging to life) are destroyed and the
bonds of karma are annihilated. Control the mind and the sense, become
desireless, develop the power of endurance, contemplate see the Self in the
self. Samadhi brings on highest good (nishreyas) and exaltation (abhyudaya). It
gives moksha (deliverance from the wheel of births and deaths). The
afflictions, egoism, etc., have their root in avidya (ignorance). With the advent
of the knowledge of the self, the ignorance vanishes. With the disappearance of
the root cause, viz., ignorance, egoism, etc., also disappear.

In the asamprajnata samadhi, all the modifications of the
mind are completely restrained. All the residual samskaras also are totally
burnt. This is the highest samadhi of raja yoga. This is also known as nirbija
samadhi (without seeds) and nirvikalpa samadhi. Dharma megha in raja yoga means
"the cloud of virtue". Just as clouds shower rain, so also this
dharma-megha samadhi showers on the yogis omniscience and all sorts of siddhis
(powers). Karma is the seed for life state, life period and life experience.
Nirbija samadhi will burn all the seeds.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Dhyana or meditation is the keeping up of the flow of one
idea, like the flow of oil.

Notes and Commentary

Meditation is of two kinds, viz., concrete and abstract. If
you meditate on any picture of concrete object, it is concrete meditation. If
you meditate on an abstract idea, on any quality (such as mercy, tolerance), it
is abstract meditation. A beginner should practise concrete meditation. For
some, abstract meditation is more easy than concrete.

The aspirant can take up the practice of meditation after he
is well up in pratyahara (abstraction of senses) and concentration. If the
senses are turbulent, if the mind cannot be fixed on one point, no meditation
is possible even within hundreds of years. One should go stage by stage, step-by-step. The mind should be withdrawn again and again to the point when it
runs. One should reduce his wants and renounce all sorts of wild, vain desires
of the mind. A desireless man only can sit quiet and practise meditation.
Satvic (pure) light diet and brahmacharya (celibacy) are the prerequisites for
the practice of meditation.

Consciousness is of two kinds, viz., focusing consciousness
and marginal consciousness. When you concentrate on trikuti, the space midway
between the two eye-brows, your focusing consciousness is on the trikuti. When
some flies sit on your left hand during meditation, you drive them with your
right hand. When you become conscious of the flies it is called marginal
consciousness.

A seed which has remained in fire for a second will not
undoubtedly sprout into leaves even though sown in a fertile soil. Even so a
mind that does meditation for some time but runs towards sensual objects on
account of unsteadiness will not bring in the full fruits of yoga.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Dharana (concentration) is fixing the mind on an idea or a
point or object either internal or external.

Notes and Commentary

For a neophyte, the practice of concentration is disgusting
and tiring in the beginning. He has to cut new grooves in the mind and brain.
After some months he will get great interest in concentration. He will enjoy a
new kind of happiness, the concentration-ananda. He will become restless if he
fails to enjoy this new kind of happiness even on one day. Concentration is the
only way to get rid of the worldly miseries and tribulations. Your only duty is
to practise concentration. You have taken this physical body to practise
concentration and through concentration to realise the self. Charity, Rajasuya Yajna,
are nothing when compared with concentration. They are playthings only.

Through vairagya (dispassion), pratyahara and practice of
concentration, the dissipated rays of wandering mind are slowly collected.
Through steady practice it is rendered one-pointed. How happy and strong is
that yogi who has one-pointed mind! He can turn out voluminous work in the
twinkling of an eye.

Those who practise concentration off and on will have only
occasionally a steady mind. Sometimes the mind will begin to wander and will be
quite unfit for application. You must have a mind that will obey you at all
times sincerely and carry out all your commands in the best possible manner at
anytime. Steady and systematic practice of raja yoga will make the mind very
obedient and faithful.

There are five yoga bhumikas or stages or five stages of the
mind, viz., kshipta (wandering), mudha (forgetfulness), vikshipta (gathering
mind), ekagra (one-pointed), niruddha (controlled or well restrained). By
gradual and well regulated practice of concentration daily, the rays of the
wandering mind are collected. It becomes one-pointed. Eventually it is curbed
properly. It comes under proper control.

If the aspirant pursues what is not fitting, his progress is
painful and sluggish. He who pursues what is fitting gets easy progress and
quick intuition. He who has no past spiritual samskaras (tendencies) of
previous birth makes painful progress. One who has such samskaras makes easy
progress. In one whose nature is actually corrupt and whose controlling
faculties are weak, progress is painful and intuition is sluggish. But to one
of keen controlling faculties progress is rapid and intuition is quick. In one
overcome by ignorance, intuition is sluggish; to one not so overcome, intuition
is rapid.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Dharana (concentration) is fixing the mind on an idea or a
point or object either internal or external.

Notes and Commentary

Retire into a quiet room; sit on padmasana. Close your eyes.
See what happens when you concentrate on an apple. You may think of its colour,
shape, size and its different parts such as skin, pulp, seeds, etc. You may
think of the places (Australia or Kashmir) wherefrom it is imported. You may
think of its acidic or sweet taste and its effects on the digestive system and
blood. Through law of association ideas of some other fruits also may try to
enter. The mind may entertain some other extraneous ideas. It may begin to
wander about. It may think of meeting a friend at the railway station at 4 p.m.
It may think of purchasing a towel or a tin of tea and biscuits. It may ponder
over some unpleasant happening that occurred the previous day. You must try to
have a definite line of thought. There must not be any break in the line of
thinking. You must not allow other thoughts which are not connected with the
object on hand to enter. You will have to struggle hard to get success in this
direction. The mind will try its level best to run in the old grooves and to
take its old familiar road or old beaten path. The attempt is somewhat like
going uphill. You will rejoice when you get even some success in concentration.
Just as law of gravitation, cohesion, etc., operate in the physical plane, so
also definite laws of thought such as law of association, law of relativity,
law of continuity, etc., operate in the mental plane or thought-world. Those
who practise concentration should thoroughly understand these laws. When the
mind thinks of an object, it may think of its qualities and its parts also.
When it thinks of a cause, it may think of its effects also.

If emotions disturb you during concentration, do not mind
them. They will pass away soon. If you try to drive them, you will have to tax
your will-force. Have an indifferent attitude. The vedantin uses the formulae:
"I don't care. Get out. I am a sakshi (witness of the mental
modifications)" to drive the emotions. The devotee simply prays and help
comes from God.

Train the mind in concentration on various subjects, gross
and subtle, and of various sizes, small, medium, and big. In course of time a
firm habit of concentration will be formed. The moment you sit for
concentration the mood will come at once quite easily. When you read a book,
you must read it with concentration. There is no use skipping over the pages in
a hurried manner. Read one page in the Gita. Close the book. Concentrate on
what you have read. Find out parallel lines in Mahabharata, Upanishads and
Bhagavatam. Compare and contrast.

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Dharana (concentration) is fixing the mind on an idea or a
point or object either internal or external.

Notes and Commentary

When hatha yogis concentrate their minds on the six supports
(the sad-chakras), they concentrate their minds on the respective presiding
deities also, viz., Ganesha, Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra Ishvara and Sadashiva.
Control the breath through pranayama. Subdue the senses through pratyahara. And
then fix the mind either on a form or the formless Brahman. According to hatha
yogic school, a yogi who can suspend his breath by kumbhak for 20 minutes can
have very good dharana. He will have a very tranquil mind. Pranayama steadies
the mind, removes vikshepa (distraction) and increases the power of
concentration. Those who practise khecari mudra by cutting the frenum lingue
and lengthening the tongue and fixing it in the hole in the palate by taking
upwards will have good dharana.

Those who practise concentration evolve quickly. They can do
any work with scientific accuracy and great efficiency. What others do in six
hours can be done by one who has concentration within half an hour. What others
can read in six hours, can be read by one who does concentration within half an
hour. Concentration purifies and calms the surging emotions, strengthens the
current of thought and clarifies the ideas. Concentration helps a man in his
material progress also. He will turn out a very good amount of work in his
office or business house. What was cloudy and hazy before becomes clear and
definite. What was difficult before becomes easy now and what was complex,
bewildering and confusing before comes easily within the mental grasp. You can
achieve anything through concentration. Nothing is impossible for a man who
practises regular concentration. It is very difficult to practise concentration
when one is hungry and when one is suffering from an acute disease. He who
practises concentration will possess very good health and very clear mental
vision.

If you read with concentration the Bhagavad Gita, the
Ramayana or the eleventh skanda of Bhagavatam several times, you will get new
ideas each time. Through concentration you will get penetrative insight.
Subtle, esoteric meanings will flash out in the field of mental consciousness.
You will understand inner depths of philosophical significance. When you
concentrate on any object do not wrestle with the mind. Avoid tension anywhere
in the body or mind. Think gently of the object in a continuous manner. Do not
allow the mind to wander away.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Dharana (concentration) is fixing the mind on an idea or a
point or object either internal or external.

Notes and Commentary

You can concentrate internally on any of the seven plexus or
chakras or centres of spiritual energy, or at the tip of the nose, or tip of
the tongue or externally on the picture of any devata (deity), Hari, Hara,
Krishna or Devi. You can concentrate on the tick-tick sound of a watch or the
flame of a candle, or on a black point on a wall, or on a pencil or rose flower
or any pleasing object. This is concrete concentration. There can be no
concentration without something upon which the mind may rest. The mind can be
fixed easily on a pleasing object such as jasmine flower, mango, orange or a
loving friend. It is difficult to fix the mind in the beginning on any object
which it dislikes such as faecal matter, cobra, enemy, ugly face, etc. Practise
concentration till the mind is well established on the object of concentration.
When the mind runs away from the object of concentration, bring it back again
and again to the object. Lord Krishna says: "As often as the wavering and
unsteady mind goes forth, so often reining it in, let him bring it under the
control of the self." (Gita Ch. VI - 26.)

If you want to increase your power of concentration you will
have to reduce your worldly activities. You will have to observe mauna (vow of
silence) for two hours daily. A man whose mind is filled with passion and all
sorts of fantastic desires can hardly concentrate on any object even for a
second. His mind will be oscillating like a balloon. Regulate and master the
breath. Subdue the senses and then fix the mind on any pleasing object. Associate
the ideas of holiness and purity with the object.

You can concentrate on the space between the two eyebrows
(trikuti). You can concentrate on the mystic sounds (anahata dhvani) that you
hear from your right ear. You can concentrate on Om picture. The picture of
Lord Krishna with flute in hand and the picture of Lord Vishnu with conch,
discus, mace and lotus are very good for concentration. You can concentrate on
the picture of your guru or any saint also. Vedantins try to fix the mind on
Atman, the inner Self. This is their dharana.

Dharana is the sixth stage or limb of ashtanga yoga or raja
yoga of Patanjali Maharshi. In dharana you will have only one vritti or wave in
the mind-lake. The mind assumes the form of only one object. All other
operations of the mind are suspended or stopped. He who can practise real
concentration for half or one hour will have tremendous psychic powers. His
'will' also will be very powerful.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Dharana (concentration) is fixing the mind on an idea or a
point or object either internal or external.

Notes and Commentary

It is very difficult to say where concentration ends and
meditation begins. Meditation follows concentration. Purify the mind first
through the practice of yama (self-control) and niyama (discipline). Then take
to the practice of dharana. Concentration without purity is of no use. There
are some occultists who are much advanced in concentration. But they have no
good character. That is the reason why they do not make any progress in the
spiritual path. Some foolish, impatient yogic students take to dharana at once
without undergoing the preliminary ethical training. They want to have a long
jump. They break their legs and fall down. This is a serious blunder. Ethical
perfection is of paramount importance.

Concentration is steadfastness of mind. If you remove all
causes of distraction, your power of concentration will increase. A true brahmachari
(celibate) who has preserved his virya (vitality) will have wonderful
concentration. Attention plays a prominent part in concentration. He who has
developed his power of attention will have good concentration. You should be
able to visualise very clearly the object of concentration even in its absence.
You must call up the mental picture in a moment's notice. If you have good
practice in concentration you can do this without difficulty. He who has gained
success in pratyahara (abstraction) by withdrawing the indriyas (senses) from
the various objects will have good concentration. You will have to march in the
spiritual path step by step, stage by stage. Lay the foundation of yama (right
conduct), niyama, asana (posture), pranayama and pratyahara to start with. The
super-structure of dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi
will be successful then only.

Asana is bahiranga sadhana (external practice); dhyana is
antaranga sadhana (internal). When compared with dhyana and samadhi, even
dharana is bahiranga sadhana. He who has steady asana and has purified the
yoga-nadis and the pranamaya kosha (vital sheath) through pranayama will be
able to concentrate easily.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Satva, rajas and tamas are the three gunas or qualities of
the mind. Satva is purity or light or knowledge. Rajas is passion or activity.
Tamas is inertia or darkness. By checking rajas and tamas you can increase the
satva. When the satva is increased the mind becomes steady like the flame of a
lamp in a windless place. He who is satvic can do real concentration and
meditation and can enter into samadhi (super-conscious state) easily. A rajasic
man loves power and objects of sense. A tamasic man does vicious actions on
account of ignorance. Satva cannot stand by itself. It is mixed with disturbing
rajas and tamas. When there is preponderance of satva, rajas and tamas get
controlled. But they lurk in the mind all the same.

Where there is increase of satva, there is brightness,
lightness, joy, purity, strength, peace and illumination. Your important duty
is to increase satva and control the senses and the mind.

Other duties are secondary only. A sensible man only can
understand this point.

The mind is wandering (ksipta) and unsteady through the
disturbing energy rajas (passion) which makes the mind run towards various
sensual objects. The mind becomes (mudha) forgetful when it is filled with
tamas (inertia). Deep sleep supervenes on account of excess of tamas.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Pleasure that is derived from sensual objects gives pain to
one who discriminates. Worldly-minded persons who have lost the faculty of
discrimination, rejoice in sensual objects on account of lack of
discrimination. They weep in old age. You weep when you are born. You weep when
you die. You weep in the interval also. Where then is pleasure in the world?
Learn to discriminate. Become a yogi. Yoga will I put an end to all sorts of
pain. Yoga will destroy all kleshas (afflictions). Wake up. Open your eyes. Practise
yoga, my child!

Sensual pleasure is momentary, deceptive, illusory and
imaginary. A mustard seed of pleasure is mixed with a mountain of pain.
Enjoyment cannot bring about satisfaction of a desire. On the contrary, it
makes the mind more restless after enjoyment through intense craving (trishnas
and vasanas). Sensual pleasure is the cause of birth and death. This body is
nothing but a mass of flesh, bone, and all sorts of filth.

Place before the mind the fruits of Self-realisation or life
in the soul or Brahman or the eternal such as immortality, eternal bliss,
supreme peace and infinite knowledge. If you remember these points always, the
mind will be weaned from the cravings for sensual pleasure. Vairagya, viveka
and mumukshutwa (dispassion, discrimination from the real and unreal and keen
longing for liberation from birth and death) will dawn. You should seriously
look into the defects of the sensual life and into the unreal nature of worldly
life.

Just as pure gold which has been treated in the crucible
with borax, etc., and rendered pure, shines brilliantly, so also the yogi,
whose mind is rendered pure by the agents of vairagya and abhyasa, becomes a
lustrous person.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Perception comes only when the mind is connected with the
centre and external instrument.

Notes and Commentary

When you are deeply engaged in solving a mathematical
problem, you do not hear any sound though your friends shout loudly by your
side. Tram-cars and motor-cars run about in the street. If you are deeply
engaged in something, you do not hear them. Why? Because your mind was not
linked with the organ of hearing. The indriyas cannot do anything by
themselves. They need the help of their master, the mind, at every moment. It
is the mind that sees, hears, tastes, smells and feels. Senses simply transmit
the sense-vibrations from outside to the mind.

The table that you see is a mental kalpana (imagination).
This table, though you see it externally, really exists in your mind. A mental
picture or image plus external something is the table. That which exists
outside is unknown and unknowable. Mind reacts to external vibrations and you
see the external universe. If there is no mind there is no universe. Where is
the world for you during deep sleep? Hence this world is termed as manomatra
jagat or manahkalpita jagat. This mind is the universe. There is no world apart
from the mind.

How can a tiny lens produce a big image of a mountain? A
small image is produced by the lens, the retina and the optic centre. It is the
mind that develops and enlarges it. All the pictures do already exist in the
mind. What you perceive as a big mountain outside is only the mental image plus
some external unknowable something.

If you say: 'there is nothing outside', why do you run after
food and water when you are hungry and thirsty? If everything is within, you
should get satisfaction from hunger and thirst from within only. But it is not
the case. There is something outside, call it avivarta (appearance) of Brahman,
vilasa (expansion) of maya, chamatkara (trick) of avidya (ignorance), parinama
(modification) of Vishnu, electrical waves of scientists, combination of anus
(atoms) of Kanada or tatva (elemental) Vilasa. It does not matter much.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Perception comes only when the mind is connected with the
centre and external instrument.

Notes and Commentary

Modification of mind is known as parinama. When milk is
changed into curd, it is also parinama. Even so the mind gets modified into a vritti
by assuming the form of the object it perceives. Knowledge of perception is a
kind of transformation (parinama) of the mind.

Some people sleep with their eyes open. The object is there.
The centre of vision is there and yet they cannot see the object. Why? Because
the mind is not there. Therefore three things are necessary for perception of
an object viz., the physical instrument, the external fleshy eyes which act as
windows to the soul; the centre of the vision in the brain and the mind. It is
the mind that really sees. It is the commander of the five senses. The senses
carry the vibrations from outside to the mind. They are avenues of
sense-knowledge.

According to Sankhya philosophy, it is the purusha or soul
that is the real perceiver of an object. The sense transmits the
sense-vibrations to the mind, and the mind in its turn presents the vibrations
to the prime minister of the soul, the buddhi or intellect, the discriminative
faculty, which is very close to the soul. Now, reaction comes in. With the
reaction of the buddhi egoism manifests side by side. Then the whole thing is
presented to purusha who really perceives all objects.

If the physical instrument, eye, is not in a good working
order owing to cataract or any other disease, you cannot have perception of an
object. The eye may be all right, but if the centre of vision that is situated
in the occipital lobe of the brain at the back of the skull does not function
properly owing to the diseases of this particular lobe of the brain, in that
case also you can have hardly any perception of any object. The eye and the
centre of the vision may be in sound condition, but if the mind is not linked
with the centre and the external eye, you can hardly have perception of any
object. Sometimes a man says: "I did not hear. I did not see. My mind was
elsewhere." You will find such instances in your daily life.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

The thinking principle is a comprehensive expression
equivalent to the Sanskrit term antahkarana. Antahkarana is a broad term used
in vedanta. It includes manas (mind), buddhi (intellect), chitta and ahamkara
(egoism or self-asserting principle).

The one mind assumes the three other forms, buddhi, chitta
and ahamkara according to the different functions it performs (vrittibheda),
just as one man is a judge in courts, president in a sabha, store-keeper in a
store and general secretary of a managing committee. Manas is a
sankalpavikalpatmaka (willing and doubting), It thinks whether to go to a place
or not, whether to do this or not, and whether this is good or bad. The mind is
of a doubting nature.

Buddhi (intellect) nischayatmaka (certitude). It is the
determining faculty, It is that light of buddhi that determines one way or the
other. I must go to Dehra Dun by this evening train. I must do this work. This
is good. Chitta does the function of anusandhana (contemplation) and dharana
(concentration). The function of memory also belongs to chitta. According to
yoga philosophy, chitta is the mind-stuff or the mental substance; and the
mind, intellect, and egoism are various processes in the mind-stuff.

Ahamkara is the self-arrogating principle. It does the
function of abhimana (identification). It creates mamata (mineness). This is
the root cause of all human sufferings. All vrittis hang upon this one
"Aham Vritti" ('I' thought). It is the root cause of human ignorance.

It should be distinctly borne in mind that the thinking
principle - mind - is not the Atman (Self) who is the fountain-source of all
consciousness or knowledge. Just as a piece of iron moves in the presence of a
mighty magnet, so also the little mind moves in the presence of the majestic
Atman. Just as a minister works with fear in the presence of a king, so also
the mind works in the same way in the presence of the king of kings, the Atman.
Just as a mirror borrows its light from the sun, so also the mind borrows its
light from the Atman, the Supreme Being.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Thought is as much a thing as the yonder piece of stone. It
has weight, colour, shape, size and form. Thought is a dynamic force. It is
caused by the vibrations of psychic prana (sukshma prana) on the mental
substance. It is a force like gravitation, cohesion or repulsion. Thought
travels or moves. Thought has got tremendous power. Thought can heal diseases.
Thoughts can transform the mentality of persons. Thought can do anything. It
can work wonders. The velocity of thought is unimaginable.

Thought is a finer force. This is supplied to us by food. If
you read Chhandogya Upanishad - the dialogue between Uddalaka and Swetaketu -
you will understand this point well. If the food is pure, thought also becomes
pure. He who has pure thoughts speaks very powerfully and produces deep
impression on the minds of the hearers by his speech. He influences thousands
of persons through his pure thoughts. A pure thought is sharper than the edge
of a razor. Entertain always pure sublime thoughts. Thought-culture is an exact
science.

Thinking is of four kinds, viz., symbolic thinking,
instinctive thinking, impulsive thinking and habitual thinking. Thinking
through words is symbolic thinking. Instincts are more powerful than impulses.
Thoughts of body, food, drink, bath, etc., are habitual thinking. You can stop
easily symbolic thinking. It is difficult to stop instinctive and impulsive
thinking.

Thought is a great force. Thought has tremendous power. It
can be transmitted from one man to another man. You can move the world through
thought-force. The powerful thoughts of great sages (rishis) of yore are still
recorded in the akasha (akashic records). Yogis who have clairvoyant vision can
perceive those thought-images. They can read them. You are surrounded by an
ocean of thought. You are floating in the ocean of thought. You are absorbing
certain thoughts and repelling some in the thought-world.

Everyone has his own thought-world. Through practice of
yama, niyama, pranayama and meditation, you can change impure thoughts into
suitable pure thoughts. Meditation fills the mind with cheerful, powerful,
satvic thoughts.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

By destroying the vrittis one by one, you gain more and more
mental strength (manasic bala) and spiritual strength (atma bala). Do the
practice and feel the strength yourself. The annihilation of even one vritti
will give you strength to destroy the second vritti that is tormenting you.
Patience, perseverance and persistent sadhana are necessary. How difficult is
it to get the M.A. degree? How much more difficult should it be, if you want to
attain the state of immortality and absolute freedom? Just as you remove a
small pebble that causes irritation to your feet, so also you should then and there
remove every vritti that torments the mind. Unless and until you are able to do
so, you have not gained any real mental strength or spiritual power. Just as
you extract a tooth and then chuck it away, so also you should extract a
disturbing vritti and cast it aside. Raja yoga teaches how to extract or root
out the disturbing thoughts. You will have to pay a heavy price for mastering
this yoga.

Ignorant people identify themselves with the body, mind and
the vrittis of the mind. The mind and the body are instruments only. The real
man is behind the mind. If you become one with the mind, body and vritti, you
get various sorts of miseries and sufferings. The whole universe is created by
the vrittis of the mind only. If these mental waves or thought-waves subside,
you can attain the absolute state. Just as you can clearly see the bottom of a
lake when the ripples and waves subside, so also you can cognise your real Self
when the vrittis that agitate your mind subside.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Vritti literally means a whirlpool. It is a thought-wave in
the lake of chitta. Chitta is the mind-stuff or mental substance. It takes
various forms. These forms constitute vrittis. It gets transformed or modified
(parinama). These transformations and modifications are the thought-waves,
whirlpools or vrittis. If the chitta thinks of a mango, the vritti of a mango
is formed in the lake of chitta. This will subside and another vritti will be
formed when it thinks of milk (milk-vritti).

Countless vrittis are rising and subsiding in the ocean of chitta.
These vrittis cause restlessness of mind. Why do vrittis arise from chitta?
Because of samskaras (habits) and vasanas (desires). If you annihilate all
desires, all vrittis will subside by themselves. When a vritti subsides it
leaves a definite impression in the subconscious mind. It is known as samskara
or latent impression. The sum-total of all samskaras is known as karmasaya
(receptacle of works). This is sanchita karma (accumulated work). When a man
leaves the physical body, he carries with him his astral body of seventeen
tatvas and the karmasaya as well to the mental plane. This karmasaya is burnt
by the highest knowledge obtained through asamprajnata samadhi.

Modification is a vritti in the mind. When the vritti
subsides it assumes the subtle state of potency or samskara in the chitta or
subconscious mind. This potency again becomes a vritti under suitable
conditions, when the mind comes in contact with sensual objects or through
memory of objects from stimulus within. There are degrees in the vrittis or
modifications that arise from the mind. You can check or control the lower vritti
with the help of higher vrittis or transformations. For instance, anger is a
lower vritti or a vritti of a lower degree. Kshama (forgiveness) is a vritti of
a higher degree. With the help of kshama you can control the lower vritti,
anger. You can become a yogarudha (one who is established in yoga) by
controlling all the vrittis of the mind. The yogi does not annihilate himself
by controlling all the vrittis or modifications of the mind. By suppressing the
transformations of the mind he acquires great powers. He becomes an (adept or
perfect being) siddha.

Although the mind is one, it passes into many conditions or
states, as it is made up of three qualities (gunas) satva, rajas and tamas. All
these qualities enter into a variety of combinations. The modifications or vrittis
of the mind are also various. Peace of mind is a satvic vritti. Lust is a rajasic
vritti. Laziness is a tamasic vritti.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Learn the yoga under a guru (preceptor). Then only will you
be able to understand the subtle points. Get practical lessons also from him.
Then alone you will grow rapidly. He will remove your doubts and show you the
right path, because he has already trodden the path himself. He will point out
the pitfalls, snares, etc., that tempt and deceive the aspirants on the path.
He will inspire his disciples.

Just as water flows from a higher level to a lower level, so
also the grace of the guru flows towards the disciple if the latter has a true
receptive attitude and sincere faith in his guru. Just as electricity flows
from a positive charge battery towards the negative pole, even so the power,
energy, love, wisdom and spiritual current flow from the master mind of a yogi
towards the lesser mind of the disciple.

Even in cooking and typewriting you want a guru to guide.
When such is the case with ordinary matters and secular sciences, what to speak
of the science of yoga which treats of sublime spiritual matters and
transcendental questions? The mysteries of knowledge are handed down from guru
to disciple.

Books also can help you. They will inspire you. They can
guide you only to a certain extent. You will have to practise for yourself
yama, niyama or the rules of right conduct before you approach a guru. You can
start the minor practices asana, pranayama, some concentration exercises, etc.,
with the help of books. Books written by realised persons can serve the purpose
of a guru till you come in personal contact with a realised yogi or adept. You
can also get help from senior aspirants in the path of yoga.

Make a programme of your life. Draw up a spiritual routine.
Stick to it systematically and regularly. Apply diligently. Never waste a
single minute. Life is short. Time is fleeting. That "tomorrow" will
never come - now or never.

Stand up with a firm resolve: "I will become a yogi
this very moment." Gird up your loins. Do rigid, constant yoga sadhana or
yoga abhyasa. If you are very sincere in your practice and if your mind is
filled with burning vairagya (dispassion) and keen longing for liberation
(mumukshutwa), you can reach perfection within six months.

Monday, March 6, 2017

The word 'Yoga' comes from the Sanskrit root 'Yuj' which
means 'to join'. By the practice of yoga, the individual soul (jivatma) is
united with the supreme soul (paramatma). Yoga means union with God. Then all
samsara (cycle of birth and death) comes to an end.

Yoga kills all sorts of pain - miseries and tribulations. Yoga frees you
from the samsaric wheel of birth and death. Yoga gives you various powers and
liberation through jnana (self-knowledge). Therefore drink the elixir or nectar
of immortality and become a yogi. "Tasmat yogi bhava Arjuna." (Gita,
Ch. VI - 46.) Union with God is the goal of human life. It is the be all and
end all of our existence. It is the summum bonum.

The Lord (Ishvara) of raja, yoga is a special purusha
(person) who is not affected by the five afflictions and the fruit of actions
and desires. His name or symbol is Om. He is indicated by the mono syllable Om.
He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, etc.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Now I proceed to explain the system of yoga philosophy in
brief and bring home to the readers the salient and vital points in the yogic
system. Yoga teaches how to control the vrittis (thought waves) of the mind and
get freedom. Yoga teaches how to curb the outgoing mind and attain one's pure
state of bliss by going beyond the mind. Yoga teaches how to transmute the
unregenerate nature and attain the state of divinity. Yoga is a complete
suppression of the tendency of the mind to transform itself into objects,
thoughts, etc.

Raja yoga is an exact science. One can ascend the yogic ladder
patiently through its different rungs. The highest summit of the ladder is
asamprajnata samadhi (super-consciousness), wherein all the samskaras (mental
impressions), which bring about successive births, are absolutely fried up. The
eight limbs of ashtanga yoga are: yama (self-restraint), niyama (religious
observances or canons), asana (posture), pranayama (restraint of breath),
pratyahara (abstraction of senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana
(meditation) and samadhi (super-conscious state).

This is one kind of classification of yoga: karma, upasana,
raja yoga and jnana. This is yogatraya (three-fold yoga). Upasana is bhakti.
Another classification is mantra yoga, laya yoga, hatha yoga and raja yoga.
Mantra yoga is recitation of mantras as "Om Namah Shivaya" of Lord
Siva, "Om Namo Narayanaya" of Lord Vishnu, Gayatri, etc. Laya yoga is
kundalini yoga. Nada anusadhana (concentration on anahata sounds of heart) is
also laya yoga. Laya means dissolution. The mind is dissolved in God.

Hatha yoga relates to the restraint of breath (pranayama), asanas,
bandhas, mudras, etc. 'Ha' and 'tha' mean the union of sun and moon, union of
prana and apana. Hatha means any obstinate practice till the object or end is
achieved. Hatha is sticking to some spiritual practices. Mauna (vow of
silence), trataka (steady gazing), crystal-gazing, standing on one leg (a kind
of austerity) etc., are all hatha practices. Hatha yoga is not separate from
raja yoga. It prepares the student to take up raja yoga. Hatha yoga is
concerned with the breath (prana) and the physical body. Pranayama purifies the
pranamaya kosha (vital sheath).

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Yoga is the state wherein there is no sankalpa vikalpa
(thought or doubt). Yoga is the control of mind and its modifications. Yoga is
the equal state between jivatma (soul) and paramatma (God). The word 'Yogi'
signifies an aspirant or a student in the path of yoga, as well as a full blown
developed adept in yoga. He who is fully established in the highest nirvikalpa
samadhi (super-consciousness) is a yogi. He who practises yoga is also a yogi.
A 'raja yogi' is otherwise known as 'dhyana yogi'. Dhyana means meditation. It
is the continuous flow of one idea of God. Raja yoga aims at controlling all
thought-waves or mental modifications. It concerns with the mind, its
purification and control. Hence it is called, 'raja yoga, king of yogas'. It is
otherwise known as ashtanga yoga (yoga with eight limbs).

A sutra means a thread or aphorism or terse saying. Each
sutra is pregnant with high, sublime ideas. Without the help of commentary, it
is difficult to understand the meanings of the aphorisms. Just as flowers or
pearls are studded in a string or a thread, even so, philosophical or spiritual
ideas are studded in a sutra or thread.

Food (ahara), sleep (nidra), fear (bhaya), and coition
(maithuna) are common to both animals and human beings. But man has got
intelligence, power of discrimination (viveka) and power of enquiry (vichara shakti);
with the help of these special powers, he can realise his Self and can know his
true nature. Even devas (gods) are envious of human beings. Because deva yoni
(divine species) is mere bhoga yoni (enjoyment), they can enjoy only with a
daivic (divine) body. Man has got both karma yoni (activity) and bhoga yoni. He
can do nishkamya karma yoga and attain jnana through chittashuddhi (purity of
mind). He can take recourse to various yogic practices for spiritual unfoldment
and can become a full blown yogi in this birth. Horses and dogs possess minds.
But they have neither discrimination nor intelligence nor vichara shakti. Hence
it is not possible for them to attain freedom.

You will find in Yajnavalkya Smriti that Hiranyagarbha was
the original teacher of yoga. Patanjali Maharishi is only a compiler or
explainer of the yogic principles and tenets taught and practised by
Hiranyagarbha and others.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Take stock of the past year. Turn back the leaves of your
spiritual diary. Mark your spiritual progress. Note how far you have advanced
in cultivating virtues, like humility, courage, truthfulness, cosmic love,
purity, etc., and in the control of the senses.

Even if there is a setback in certain things, nil desperandum. March forward, O
adhyatmic (spiritual) hero. Look not back. A brilliant future is awaiting you.

- - -

God is the source of all happiness. All beings abide in Him.
He is an embodiment of peace, wisdom and bliss. He is truth, love, beauty and
goodness. All beings abide in Him.

God is one, God and His laws are one. God is love and law.
God is pure spirit. God is the path and the goal. God alone is your real
father, mother, friend and guru.

Realise God now and here and be happy for ever.

- - -

The deeper a man's love of God is, the greater is his
spiritual knowledge, in due proportion to his capacity and depth of love.